A Stolen Heart
by MrsRiverPhoenix274
Summary: (No longer a one shot) Scarlet believed that every person deserved a chance. But she seemed to be one of the few people who thought anyone with the last name Chambers deserved a thing.
1. Chapter 1

A Stolen Heart

The first day of high school gives everyone a jumble over nervous feelings. But Scarlet knew the amount she was feeling was above average. She knew she had changed. Puberty had hit her later than the rest of the girls. And harder. Everything seemed to have changed over that summer. Her hair had grown at least six inches longer, her long brown hair thicker and shinier than ever thanks to conditioner she never had bothered to use before. She had started wearing make-up, small amounts but her face looked entirely different. She'd had small bits of acne on her forehead, that was long gone, her face was as clear as a newly washed window. She had lost twenty pounds, now she wasn't necessarily fat beforehand, but she now weighed a grand total of 105.5 pounds. She had spent most of her summer at her aunt's beach house in Florida, so her legs were more toned and tanner than they had ever been before. She had grown an inch and a half, making her 5'7. And what shocked her the most was that she had grown two cup sizes! She was now a C, almost a D. So, yeah, maybe she had changed just a little.

Scarlet sat at her desk in her room, checking her reflection once more. After a few more seconds of studying her face, she reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a wallet sized photo of her eighth grade picture. An entirely different person. Well, externally that was. Scar had promised herself that no matter what people told her or how people thought she should do things with her new transformation that she'd stay true to who she was. She'd still carry a book everywhere she went, still make straight As, and still be with the friends she'd had from the start. The ones that had been there before she changed. And she didn't know if she even liked how she had changed.

Scarlet shook her head, exiting her daze. She smoothed her royal purple mini dress out, and slipped into a pair of sparkled flats. After slinging a black, leather messenger bag over her shoulder, she stepped out of her bedroom and walked down her stairs, the confidence she had gained over the summer working its magic. Though she was confused on whether she liked the new her or not, she definitely liked the confidence that she had gained with it.

As she entered the kitchen, her black and white cat, Elvis, followed her eight year old brother around the room as he wriggled a cat toy in front of him.

"Morning Brandon." Scarlet smiled, pouring herself a small bowl of cheerios. Brandon gave her a wave of acknowledgement, the best thing she got to a good morning now that he was a third grader. Scarlet shoveled six bites of cheerios into her mouth before hearing a honk. Scarlet knew right away it was Miranda, or Randi, one of her best friends, who was a year older than Scarlet, was there to pick her up. She shoved the half-eaten bowel of cereal at her brother.

"Take this, Randi's here. BYE MOM!" She screamed up the stairs.

"Bye sweetie, remember be yourself! Don't let anyone tell you you've changed as a person! You're still my same little sweet heart that you were in eighth grade!" Scarlet smiled to herself.

"I won't! love you!"

"I love you too baby girl!" And with that, Scarlet exited the house, ready as she would ever be to start high school. She jogged down the drive way where Randi sat laying on the horn, engine still running. Scar flung the door open, smiling brightly at Randi. As soon as Randi looked up, her eyes looked like they'd pop out of her head and her jaw dropped in shock. She gave Scar a drawn out once over.

"Holy shit…" She said, her voice barely audible.

"That bad?" Scar laughed awkwardly. Randi shook her head.

"I swear to God I think you just made me switch teams scar like.. damn… puberty was worth the wait.. you're.. Jesus Christ…" Scarlet blushed.

"Well thanks." Scarlet bit her lip as she got into the car. During the course of the car ride, Randi wouldn't stop raving over what the school would say about her. Scarlet made it as if she was just brushing off the comments, but in all honesty it was making her a nervous wreck. What _would_ the school say about her? As they pulled into the school parking lot her heart beat started to quicken.

"Come on!" Randi giggled, opening the passenger door for Scarlet as she hopped out. This was it. She flipped a few of her brown spiral curls over both shoulders and pulled up on her dress before following Randi into the main hall to their shared locker. As the door slammed, the late bell rung. Shit, late to the first class of her freshman year, really? She gave Randi a hug and they wished each other good luck on their new year of school. Scarlett scurried down the hall and to her new English class. She flung the door open, breathing heavily. She walked slowly into the classroom, embarrassed. She'd never been late to a class in her life, let alone on the first day of school. She hung her head down as the boys in the back of the room bagan to whistle.

"Quiet boys! Good morning Miss Robertson, you'll take your seat next to Mr. Chambers in the back and we'll start on our first lesson!" The teacher clasped her hands together with excitement. Scarlet just nodded quickly before heading to her seat. Her heart began to pump rapidly again. She'd always had a thing for Chris Chambers. She could tell there was more to him then what met the eye, his last name. She took her seat next to him and gulped. Would the new her impress him? She tucked her curls behind her ear and took out a fresh spiral notebook and number two pencil. After a few minutes of more awkward silence and boys staring at her, the teacher dove into the lesson. Scarlet took diligent notes as she always did, ignoring wondering eyes, until she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Pssssst, Scar.." She heard a male voice whisper in a hushed tone. She looked up to see Chris staring back at her, blushing.

"Uh… hi there." He smiled shyly at her.

"H-hi." She stuttered out. Could this really be happening, could boys finally want to talk to her?

"Y-you… y-you look different…" Chris said, scooting his desk closer to hers as quietly as he could.

"I'm taking it you think that's a good thing?" She said, writing down more notes.

"Well, you look great. Gorgeous, Scarlett… but you and I both know you want to be in jeans and a T shirt right now. You're trying really hard.." Chris mumbled to her.

"Are you calling me a try hard?" Scarlet's confidence began to drain. Was she a try hard?

"Not exactly… I was just-"

"Implying it." She finished. She clenched her fist. Chris Chambers had just taken the building of confidence she'd built over the summer brick by brick and demolished it by implying something. I guess the building was still fragile. Or maybe it wasn't even real confidence…

"Well let me tell you something Chris Chambers, being the smart book worm outcast isn't any less difficult than being Eyeball Chambers kid brother, you're marked by society. This was just a way to make me feel like I'm actually worth something. But maybe I'm not worth it. Maybe there isn't a way to make me feel beautiful for long because I'm not. You don't need to remind me that I need to try to feel beautiful, it's not a natural feeling for me you ass hole!" Scarlet shot back, not realizing until the end that she had yelled it, everyone was staring, and she had begun to cry. Scarlet shoved her notebook into her backpack and walked up to where the teacher stood in the front of the room.

"Please move me by next class period. I think I'm going to leave for the day Mrs. Winters." She nodded sympathetically.

"O-of course dear." And with that she exited the class, not realizing she was being followed.

"Wait!" What the hell could Chris possibly want now?

"What do you-" Before she could finish, she felt soft lips moving softly against hers. She was very tempted to kiss back, but she didn't, she pushed him away.

"What the hell Chambers?! What do you want?!" Chris' hand ran down her right cheek, softly wiping away her tears. He gently took her backpack from her, and she didn't bother to fight it either, even though she didn't know what the hell he was doing. After a minute he pulled out her old glasses from the eighth grade, which she had since replaced with contacts. He slipped the huge, thick glasses onto her face.

"I want her back. You and I both know you don't want to be in that dress right now. An oversized sweatshirt, holey jeans, and converse will do the trick just fine. The one who doesn't wear make-up, the one who has her hair in a ponytail or bun almost every day, sure you've…. Grown, but this isn't you, this isn't what you would wear, this isn't the same girl who stole my heart." Scarlet's body tensed, he wanted… her?

"I've loved you ever since you walked into my life in the third grade, I wouldn't have gone near the library if it weren't for the fact that I knew you'd be in there with your nose in a book. I've always thought you were really adorable while concentrated on your books." She bit her lip as he brought her closer to him.

"I think I was just tired of being that invisible girl nobody noticed. But y-you don't like this?" Scarlet said motioning towards her dress. Chris smiled a bit, taking her hands in his.

"I love anything on you.. but what's most attractive is you being you." She smiled.

"That's really sweet of you Chris." He leaned down towards her again, kissing her with more passion this time.

"If you go back to being… well you again, id love for you to well… you know… be my girlfriend." Her eyes widened in surprise.

"I'm gonna go home and change out of… whatever this is, maybe my boyfriend would like to take me to lunch?" Chris smiled brightly.

"If your boyfriend is who I think it is, I think he'd love that and he'd also love to walk you home." He took her hand and laced his fingers with hers. She smiled, finally able to feel okay with who she really was. Thanks to her boyfriend. And maybe in time she'd make him okay with who he was.

**R&R? This is DEFINITELY not my best work but I still thought id upload to see what people thought of this one shot!**


	2. Chapter 2

**For the people who asked for it! please R&R. It truly does mean the world! **

"I-I had a really good time tonight beautiful…" Chris said in almost a whisper, while playing with the tips of Scarlet's small fingers. Their little lunch had turned into a walk in the park, which led to dinner, then another long walk. Chris didn't want to part ways, but it was midnight, and both Scar and Chris knew it was time she got home. Without thinking, Chris went in for his third kiss ever from Scarlet Robertson. She kissed back without any hesitation. She wanted this just as much as Chris did. They finished their long kiss, the dim porch light pouring onto them like a spotlight. Chris smiled. This was all he had ever wanted. Not any of the other girls he ever hooked up with just to get his mind off of his home life when school didn't do the trick. He genuinely wanted Scarlet. The sweetest girl in school that thought she was always going without notice. Little did she know, a lot of guys wanted her for more than just geography notes. Every guy that asked her to come by their house to "tutor" them, just wanted to get into her pants… to see what was under those oversized sweat shirts. Everyone knew she was a little underdeveloped in junior high but hormonal boys do anything to get what they want and desire.

"I- maybe you'd wanna do somethin' like this again tomorrow? After school?" he stuttered out. She smiled at him, a small blush evident in her cheeks. She nodded slowly. He kissed her forehead and They exchanged good nights. She slowly opened the door to her home. All the lights were off, meaning maybe they thought she was with a friend, so they weren't too worried and just went to bed. Now all she had to do was make it up the stairs without waking anyone up. She could do it. Suddenly the light flicked on. Her older sister and both her mother and father were sat in the living room. She was definitely in for it.

"Look who decided to come home." Her sister snapped. Who was she to talk? Scarlet thought to herself. Her sister was out past curfew almost every night her freshman year. And to think scarlet covered for her every single time…

"I-I…" Scarlet tried to form words but she couldn't. What was she going to say when her parents asked her where she had been? Say she was with a Chambers kid? HA. Though she had family in his neighborhood, no family's rep was as bad as the Chambers family. Plus her parents seemed to think everyone in their family could do no wrong. Oh gosh, she was DATING a Chambers. She had KISSED a Chambers. What was going to happen now? Scarlet had no problem with him being a Chambers, but her parents were a different story.

"We were worried sick! Who were you with scarlet?! Do our rules mean nothing to you? Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?" Her father's voice raised with every word. She gulped hard. Maybe she had made a bad decision, staying out that late the way she did, but why did he have to yell at her like that? she couldn't imagine how they would react if they knew the whole thing. Scarlet looked up at her parents.

"I'm in high school now! Why is it that big of deal?! You never yelled at Sandra this way when she got home late! Why is it so different with me?!" by the end of her small rant, Scarlet realized she was screaming at her parents. She clammed up like a little turtle going back into its shell. This wasn't like her at all. Her mother looked mortified. Scarlet looked at her feet. Why was she acting up like this? Maybe she did gain a bit of confidence. But maybe, just maybe she didn't gain it over the summer. Maybe she gained it when she finally got a boyfriend that day.

"Who do you think you're talk-" Her mother was cut off by the front door swinging open. A gust of wind followed. Scarlet had a weird feeling she knew exactly who it was, and they may know the stuff Scarlet didn't want shared.

"Scar, I know exactly where you've been all night." Her cousin, Ace Merrill's husky voice rang throughout the house.


	3. Chapter 3

**Please review. its such a motivator. **

Scarlet's breath hitched. This could not be happening. No way was this happening. She shut her eyes tightly. Maybe this was all a nightmare. Well, being with Chris definitely wasn't a nightmare. It was a dream. A wonderful dream come true. But Ace finding out. Now that was a real nightmare. Ace may have loved his cousin, but he was Ace Merrill. He liked to see people writhe. And Scarlet was no exception. He wanted to see her wriggle like a worm on a hook. He wanted to get what he could out of the situation. Scarlet finally looked to her cousin. He had a devilish smirk playing at his lips that she was sure only her and Ace knew of.

"Where was she Acie? She got home passed midnight." Her sister informed him. Scarlet wanted to know what Sandra's problem really was. Did she think Scarlet was going to out bad her or something? Highly unlikely. Sandra was not exactly a good kid. She never turned in her homework on time. Her looks and charismatic personality helped her there, especially with the male teachers. Any male with eyes drooled over her. She was always late to class. Again, the personality and looks got her out of it. Every pickle Sandra found herself in, she just tossed those all natural bleach blonde ringlets over her shoulder, gave a dazzling smile, and that was it. Point was, people thought Scarlet's older sister was so bad she was _good. _All she could do was be thankful that Sandra had graduated last year.

"She…" Ace seemed to be thinking for a few nerve wrecking moments. His eyes darted with curiosity, thinking of what option would benefit him most. He finally continued.

"She was tutoring at Randi's. We all know Scar is a year ahead in Science, so they both take Chem. Scar was helping her get ready for an assignment that they have to do in that class tomorrow." Ace explained. It was scary, the way he told his lie so smoothly Scarlet almost believed it. He was a slick guy. He could get out of anything by lying, stealing, or cheating. And he never got caught. Scarlet's parents of course ate the lie up. Scarlet looked to her parents. Their expressions were suddenly soft. They believed it. They probably thought that Scarlet was just trying to come across as a "bad kid". Her father turned to face her better.

"Dear, we're truly sorry for yelling at you the way we did, we were just so worried. You could have been anywhere, with anyone. It's great that you help Miranda out the way you do. You've been a great influence on her, Scar." Whether her parents wanted to admit it or not, they hated Miranda. Miranda had moved to Castle Rock when she was a freshman in high school. She belonged to a huge Italian family that lived in the Bronx. She was loud, cussed like a sailor, spoke Italian, and had no problem throwing a punch when needed. Needless to say, Scarlet's parents didn't exactly find her to be great. They hated her. Especially when they found out she had already had six boyfriends by the end of her first month there. Randi called it, 'testing what these parts had to offer.' She was constantly mumbling Italian under her breath. Whether she was cussing out a teacher in secret, or whispering to a family member, she was just as invested in the language of Italy as she was with English. To be honest, Scarlet found Italian to be a much prettier language than English, especially the way Americans spoke it. They didn't put any emphases on their letters or pronunciation of words so the English language was pretty… bland Scarlet thought. So Randi started teaching her Italian. It wasn't easy for her to grasp at first, but now she knew bits and pieces. After an incident at Scarlet's house, she told Randi to tone it down a bit. Randi was offended at first, but after Scarlet told her she only had to watch what she said at her house and that it was her parents that were having the problem, Randi understood. Randi always said they were uptight so she knew that was the reason why. So, Scarlet really hadn't influenced her in the least, Randi just figured out sometimes a minor filter was needed. Something they didn't have back in the Bronx.

"But anyway, we knew you had to have been doing something productive Scarlet. Our Scarlet is never up to anything but good." Her mother beamed. After hugging her parents goodnight, she was left alone with Ace. He sat next to her on the couch. Not that she was looking anywhere but down.

"Someone was feeling reckless, hm? Going on a date with a Chambers kid. I thought everyone was smart enough to stay away from those boys. Apparently I gave ya too much credit, huh Scar?" Ace said, humor visible in his hushed tone.

"Ace… he's a goo…" Scarlet wasn't able to finish her sentence before Ace cut her off and began talking again.

"Chris Chambers is gonna break your heart, you know that don't you?" Scarlet sighed. There was ignoring his reputation. He may have been a "bad kid" but there was no denying he was attractive. Not one girl in Scarlet's grade could deny that he was straight up gorgeous. So when his home life would get rough and he'd show up at a bonfire or a bar looking for someone to hook up with, many girls jumped at the opportunity. Not that they'd ever admit to having hooked up with a Chambers. no matter how attractive and charazmatic Chris was, he couldn't seem to get past that very well-known last name of his.

"I wanna give him a chance, Ace. He's sweet and cute and caring and he's a great listener… I'm not saying I'm in love with him or anything. All I am really trying to say is that what kind of person am I to turn him down?" All of her words came from the heart. She had really begun to like him more than she had ever before.

"That would make you a smart person Scarlet Robertson." Ace grinned. Scarlet rolled her eyes. This guy really had a lot of nerve. He wasn't exactly the best guy in the world either. Nor had he ever been the best boyfriend. Heck, had he ever really been someone's boyfriend?

"Ace honestly, I'm done with this conversation. What do you have against him anyway, you've always seemed to despise him for some reason." Scarlet remarked. And it was true. He'd picked on Chris since Chris was in grammar school with Scarlet. Ace huffed at her remark. Seeming annoyed for some reason. What was really so bad about Chris? Whatever was "wrong" with Chris, it bugged the hell out of Ace.

"Ever since he got into Grammar school he's been best buddy's with Denny LaChance's kid brother. He always seemed to be trying really hard to be some uppity high class kid. And everyone knows he is anything but that. Especially when he started junior high, he thought he was some goodie two shoes that needed to get into college. Everyone knows he's never gonna get there either. Bottom line, he's always tryin' to be something he's not. He's just gonna be a store clerk at best, now that he got good grades in math." Once Ace's rant was over, Scarlet was left absolutely shocked. He hated Chris for trying to be something better? That was the biggest load of bullshit she had ever heard.

"Ace, get to the point. What's up your sleeve? What do you want in return for your very much needed silence? I know you want something." Scarlet crossed her arms over her chest. She meant business now.

"Get Randi to hook up with me by the end of the month." He said simply. What? Was the only word crossing Scarlet's mind. Ace and Randi were ancient history. He was three years older than Randi and she was very much intrigued by this. After about three weeks of dating, she dumped him for being all up in her personal space. Trying to hook up with her. How was Scarlet supposed to get one of her best friends to do something like that when the reason they broke up really was because she didn't want to? Even though Randi had had a lot of boyfriends, she was still a virgin and wanted to keep it that way. She was an Italian Catholic man. Gee, did Ace know she was a Catholic?

"So if I don't get her to, you tell my mom and dad about well.. you know." Scarlet looked down at her feet. She was being blackmailed. How could this be happening?

"You got it sweet cheeks. You got three weeks to give me what I want." And with that, Ace got up and left the house, leaving her absolutely speechless.


End file.
